INTRODUCTION

From the inception of the FERC Manual, the American Gas Association, the Sponsoring Members of the FERC Manual, and the Legal and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") Regulatory Committees, anticipated that as FERCs requirements and restrictions changed, some of the substance covered by each edition would need to be updated to keep it current. Their foresight continues to be borne out by experience.

The 2012 Edition of the FERC Manual retains the essential structure and content of the original edition, but has been updated to take into account developments in a va riety of areas or in some instances expanded to include coverage of a subject that was not included in earlier editions. The new subjects encompass;

• FERCs description of how it will treat contracts and settlements that embody Mobile-Sierra standards, when it will decline to apply Mobile-Sierra and the conditions under which FERC will apply • heightened standards of review even if it concludes that in the strictest terms, Mobile-Sierra does not apply;

• The apparent gap between FERCs policies regarding rate treatment of service interruptions and the actual operation of pipeline tariffs;

• FERC accounting and rate treatment of expenses and investments made in light of pipeline safety legislation, including the most recent enactment, the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty and Job Creation Act of 2011;

• The relationship between negotiated contract rights of first refusal and FERCs policies regarding the treatment of non-conforming contract provisions;

• Limitations on pipeline market-based storage rates;

• FERCs new regulations dealing with multiple affiliate bidding in pipeline open seasons for capacity;

• The consequences of the lack of contract privity between releasing shippers and replacement shippers and methods that can be used as palliatives for the problem;

• Waivers of Capacity Release Rules for restructuring transactions;

• The effect ofthe United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit's vacafurof Order No. 720'S posting requirements and its potential for affecting Order No. 704 and FERCs consideration of market manipulation rules;

• FERC decisions in litigated cases dealing with claims of market manipulation, including the application of those rules to individuals;

• Application of FERC's Revised Civil Penalty Guidelines, issued only shortly before the last edition of the FERC Manual; and

• A revised illustrative compliance plan reflecting the guidance provided by FERC's Revised Civil Penalty Guidelines.